promoearn: The Daily Money: Last chance to refi? Plus, best credit cards for gas

Friday, March 18, 2022

The Daily Money: Last chance to refi? Plus, best credit cards for gas

ALL THE MONEY NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Friday, March 18

Subscribe to The Daily Money newsletter. Come for our roundup of each day's top stories from USA TODAY Money. Stay for the pop-culture references and financial news-inspired playlist.

Good morning and happy Friday, Daily Money readers. Jayme Deerwester here with you. Just checked the weather and rain is forecast for my first on-the-water rowing practice of the season this weekend. Guess those waterproof socks I got for Christmas are about to come in handy.

🗞 News you should know 🗞

For homeowners looking to refinance, there is no time like the present, experts say.

"While the next few weeks will be unpredictable as markets continue to churn, the outlook is for mortgage rates to rise even higher," says Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of forecasting for the National Association of Realtors. "And my advice is to lock in a rate right now if they (homeowners) feel financially secure.

Among homeowners who've had a mortgage since before the pandemic, 74% have not refinanced, according to an October Bankrate survey.

"If you haven't had the chance to refi at this point in time now, this is sort of like your last chance to do it at these types of rates," says Lindsey Bell, the chief markets and money strategist for Ally, a financial services firm.

🚨 More stories you shouldn't miss 🚨

ANSWERING ZELENSKYY'S PLEA FOR AMMO: How NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Childress donated 1 million rounds of ammo to Ukrainian soldiers.

WHEN CAN WE GET OFF? Passengers kept on board for days after Norwegian ship ran aground.

NEED TO MAKE A MAJOR PURCHASE? How to survive inflation and save money for a car or home.

FORD EV AVAILABILITY: Carmaker is working through a F-150 EV pickup reservation list and consumers wanting Mustang should order fast.

BIGGEST DANGER TO PEDESTRIANS? Insurance Institute research finds that higher-profile SUVs and pickups appear to be a factor.

💡 Daily insight 💡

Get anxiety just from watching the cost of filling your tank increase every week? Well, if you're going to have to spend that money anyway, you might as well redeem those points or cash back for statement credits, gift cards and more. While rewards rates can vary, cards on this list offer as much as 5% cash back when you spend money at gas stations.

Our sister site Reviewed.com rounded up the credit cards with the best gas rewards and broke them down into categories, like the best card for a long commute, the top pick for gas and groceries, and even one with EV-charging station benefits. Reviewed also has a list of the best cards for groceries .

💵 Let's get into tax formation 💵

Before you file your taxes, you first need to gather all the information you need to prepare your return. What sort of information? Well, it's mostly a bunch of forms that your bank, brokerage firm, mutual fund firm, retirement plan, insurer and the like send you, typically, in January and February each year.

Here's what you need to know about some of the more important forms:

•	1099: This one reports income, dividends, and gains and losses into many separate categories.
•	1099-R: Distributions from pensions, annuities, retirement or profit-sharing plans, IRAs, insurance contracts.
•	Form 5498: You'll get this one if you made contributions or rolled funds into a traditional, Roth, SEP or SIMPLE IRA in the previous tax year.
•	Form W-4. Tax season is a great time to review your current year's federal income tax withholdings to prevent yourself from owing the IRS next year.

Have you invested in cryptocurrency like bitcoin? The IRS wants to know. We'll discuss how to report crypto investments in Sunday's special tax season edition of the Daily Money. (As a subscriber to this newsletter, you'll automatically receive it.)

🎧 Mood music 🎧

If you're in the Midwest or on the East Coast, you know we're in that season where you have to change your clothes at least twice a day. You needed your parka to walk the dog this morning, but this afternoon, you'll strip down to a T-shirt and shorts. So today's lyric is from Crowded House's " Four Seasons in One Day": "The sun shines on the black clouds hanging over the domain. Even when you're feeling warm, the temperature could drop away, like four seasons in one day."

LISTEN WHILE YOU WORK: Remember, you can listen to this song and every track I've quoted in the newsletter in the Daily Money Mood Music playlist on Spotify.